"On the morning of 05/18/1894 , the schooner M.J. Cummings, en route from Buffalo to Racine arrived at Milwaukee harbor. Despite poor weather, the master elected not to enter the harbor. The Cummings anchors broke loose, and the schooner drifted toward the beach "southward of the piers". In an attempt to scuttle the schooner, the crew began cutting a hole in the hull in the forward part of the vessel. Before they could finish, the schooner's stern struck the bottom, driving the rudder "through its casing into the hull" causing the Cummings to sink immediately in 18 feet of water. Despite the efforts of the local lifesaving crew, six of the seven crew members were lost."